Made in Hollywood

In May, the streets of Los Angeles were scorching hot, and there was a smell called heat in the air. In the air-conditioned bookstore, there were many more people reading magazines.

"It's a pity that the king of the summer program has no works released this summer." Several people were discussing, "This summer program has a lot less to watch."

"Having won the annual North American and global box office for two years in a row, and now running 'Chicago', it looks like he's tired of summer."

Someone echoed, "It is sometimes a very sad thing to not find an opponent."

Several people laughed softly, and suddenly one of them pointed to the magazine hanging in a prominent position and said, "Isn't that the king of summer and the madman you said?"

"He rarely gives interviews, and he was on the cover of Vanity Fair."

In the latest issue of "Vanity Fair", there is a close-up of Duke's front. The close-up is obviously taken from the bottom up. Duke stands firmly in front of the Duke's studio, looking down at the whole of Hollywood.

There is also a note on the cover - Duke Rosenberg has given the audience a new possibility, a broad space for movie lovers, a new way of dazzling skills for action movie fans, and a new way for commercial movies. Come to a new style, logic, and even way of thinking!

This is the Vanity Fair interview that Duke accepted, and the cover is filled with extensive coverage of the interview...

In 1991, Duke was a 21-year-old with a camera on his back, he wanted to make a movie, and he was driving around Hollywood looking for opportunities in a run-down used car, and he was too poor to buy a new car!

In 1996, with the worldwide release of Saving Private Ryan, Duke made $2.3 billion at the global box office in just four films. Among them, "Independence Day" in 1994 broke a number of box office records in North America within a week of its release, including the largest release, the highest midnight box office, the highest first weekend box office, and the fastest box office breakthrough of 100 million yuan, etc., and eventually became the highest box office of the year. and the second film to gross $900 million worldwide.

Duke's films not only swept the cinema, but were also loved by fans. As soon as his debut female work "Speed ​​of Life and Death" appeared on the stage, the audience was full of praise for Duke. Of course, there are also critical voices, who think that Duke is either showing off his skills or being shallow. But considering the situation over the past few years, it is not difficult to see the audience's recognition and enthusiasm for him.

In the hearts of many viewers, Duke is the guarantee of the quality of the film. "Duke produced, it must be a high-quality product" is not a joke, judging from the quality of the current works, it is almost a fact.

From ordinary young people who madly loved movies a few years ago, they are now regarded as explosive madmen. During this period, Duke created a total of four films, an average of one a year, which can be completely classified as a high-yield director. What is even more amazing is that these four works are like a well-laid chess game. The tricks fell on the spot, so far none have missed.

Go to now. The success of this game of chess can be said to be perfect, Duke has become one of Hollywood's top directors, and this young super director, after the Oscar. Into the "Vanity Fair"!

"Vanity Fair" uses the most intuitive question-and-answer method to publish an exclusive interview...

Vanity Fair: Director Rosenberg, you have a variety of options after high school, what prompted you to major in filmmaking? Choosing to enter Hollywood to become a director?

Duke: People are learning all their lives. CalArts is just the beginning of learning. Work is a learning process. I wish I was a forever film student, able to make different films, experience different characters, go to different places in the world, and experience different stories. Because I happen to have the talent and opportunity to make movies, I hope to use movies to learn about life and myself.

Vanity Fair: So movies are very important to you? What does film mean to you?

Duke: It's very important that filmmaking is not just a job for me, it's my life. I don't have any hobbies. When I'm not making movies, I'm very lazy. Making movies is my life and my way of life. Although it was very hard when filming, I wish people all over the world would know how hard you are, but when the things you dream of are shown in front of your eyes, you will not only be happy and surprised, but also thank God and all those who have struggled with you. People, even if it is a small reward, will feel great joy and will feel that life is very meaningful.

Vanity Fair: The four films you've released in the past are full of all kinds of intense conflicts. Is this related to your character and environment?

Duke: Actually, I am a person who likes to be calm, because I grew up under the strict control of my mother. I don’t think people can be frivolous or exaggerated. You have to work hard and work hard, only when you pay enough. , will be successful. But when I was working, I had to make certain changes. I needed to be wild like a lion in filmmaking, and I needed to bring this wildness into full play in the film. I don't need to be calm in the movie, I want to rush as much as possible, try my best to take risks, and try my best to make everyone thrilled!

Vanity Fair: Your films are thrilling enough, no one can deny that, but there has always been a voice that your films are too naive, too childish, and have little to think about. What do you think of this?

Duke: The mainstream movies that audiences around the world see are actually relatively naive, and the philosophical part is almost done. If it's a book, you can imagine it slowly, you can read it in a week or two, but a movie is only about two hours long, and you have to keep the audience distracted and keep them focused! There was a time when I also had a lot of ideas that were completely artistic. I felt that I could be artistic to the end and make the most expensive art film, which would make a name for itself in the history of photography. Later I found out that if I can’t satisfy the broad audience and without the audience’s approval, my films have no value. After all, I’m not the kind of director who talks to himself and only shoots for himself.

Vanity Fair: So how do you think films can find a balance between business and art?

Duke: How do you find a balance between business and art? I think it has something to do with how much money is invested in a movie. For example, for me, I can shoot anything within 10 million US dollars. I have this market value. But it won't work if I change it to "Saving Private Ryan". If I remove the intense war scenes and simply tell the emotional conflict and the psychological process of rescue, just listening to me will make investors nervous - how does this thing sell? ? Then the movie doesn't get funding.

Vanity Fair: A lot of people don't understand why you chose "Chicago", which is so different from your own style?

Duke: I've also learned a lot about filmmaking over the years, and I'm also learning how to make films in different ways and styles. After the third film "Independence Day", I was afraid of being fixed as a certain type of director, so I wanted to try to make different films, which required regaining trust and even making a lot of financial sacrifices. The world is big and there are so many things to do, why do the same things over and over again? Of course, there are also people who use the same methods and methods to go deeper and deeper, but for me, I like to try different things, take risks, and like to learn. Creation should have a breadth so that I can learn and progress in different types of creation.

Vanity Fair: Now that you're one of the best directors in Hollywood, does that make a difference in your work and your life?

Duke: I'm a filmmaker and a storyteller. I think people need to live with sincerity. As they get older, they sometimes find that their thinking becomes slower, and they want to film something they imagine. It's more difficult to come out than before. I've always wanted to take pictures of my messy or imaginative things for the audience to see. Why do people like to watch movies, and what is a movie? It is actually the most illusory thing and the most real. What I talk about in my films is often beyond the scope of human control. In fact, there is a kind of yearning in it. I hope to use my works to communicate with everyone, I hope it can be sincere, and I hope everyone appreciates it. That’s it.

Vanity Fair: What are your plans after "Chicago"? Is it easy to reveal something?

Duke: I'm at a crossroads with my work right now. "Chicago" is a gorgeous musical with a lot of visual art performance. This thing is relatively new to me. I can also have a lot of fun in it, and I hope the audience will like it. In the future, I will try a movie with a more complex narrative structure, so I wonder if I can think of some slightly more complicated and interesting ways to structure it, and then make it...

Throughout the interview, Duke was elegant and full of gentlemanly demeanor. From him, he could feel that strong confidence. Duke seemed to always reassure fans, and his works were always worth looking forward to.

Sometimes when I look at Duke, it really looks like a high-precision machine. Duke's creative team is equally stable. As a director, he also acts as a screenwriter and producer, and he has the same group of talented collaborators by his side, Sophia? Coppola has worked with him on four films and is his most trusted assistant, and the producer is Robin Grande, a Hollywood veteran who is good at straightening out relationships. Photographer John Schwartzman has just received Oscar for Best Cinematography...

Taken together, these factors make for Duke's next work, "Chicago," and all the other works that follow, it has to be said that there is hardly the kind of worry that fans usually have.

Duke is so believable, so believable that it's a little impersonal, but that's certainly a good thing for the audience.

After all, some people want to hear stories, some people want to be dazzled, some people want to subvert the known, some people want an adrenaline rush, and Duke has everything we want!

The exclusive interview published by Vanity Fair once again pushed Duke to the front, the door of Warner Studios, and even more paparazzi in the short term.

None of this prevented Duke from being fully committed to the shooting of "Chicago". (To be continued ~^~)